A place where I lay down my own recipes for public consumption, write restaurant reviews and give opinion on new products or growing trends that involve food or drink.
As an ex-chef and keen cook, I would eventually love to get into food writing full time. It isn't quite as fast paced as the kitchen and I'd get to see my family from time to time!

Sunday, 6 March 2011

An 'Old Fashioned' made with Maker's Mark

This drink is well over 100 years old and is a simple, classic recipe.

I would also like to start out by saying that I have had this drink before and thought it was enjoyable enough (mainly because it comprises almost solely of whiskey). However, the Hotel Du Vin in Harrogate recently opened my eyes to the possibilities. The gentleman at the bar painstakingly added the whiskey to the orange peel, bit by bit, muddling, bruising and stirring. Extracting that aroma and making sure that every ml of Whiskey was sweetly infused with lipsmacking and aromatic zest tangs. I told him that any ‘Old Fashioned’ I ordered from here on in, would most likely be an underwhelming experience. He informed me that was “the point”. Attention to detail meant I didn’t regret the £7 fee. However, I knew I could make it home for a lot less.

Most people think Bourbon isn’t much of a sipping whiskey and I suppose you could argue that you’re not exactly having it straight here. But, it is close enough and is the perfect choice for this drink given its oaky sweetness. Pick it up for around £25 at most supermarkets.

On with the show...

½ tsp fudgey brown sugar

A few dashes of angostura bitters

½ orange (zest only – peeled away in one long thin winding strip)

½ small lemon (zest only – peeled away in one long thin winding strip)

3 large ice cubes

50ml Makers Mark Bourbon Whiskey™

3 Maraschino Cherries

Equipment...

A long ball ended skewer or cocktail stick

1 Tumbler Glass

Plastic cocktail skewer for the Cherries

Place the sugar and bitters into the tumbler glass and stir into a paste with the cocktail stick. Add the orange and lemon peels and bruise them with the rounded end of the cocktail stick or skewer. Add 2 of the ice cubes and then 10ml of the whiskey, keep stirring, bruising and infusing the zest into the whiskey, 10ml at a time. Once all the whiskey is in the glass at the final ice cube and give it another stir. Garnish with the cherries on a skewer and some decorative winds of thin peel. Sip into heaven.